"The movie...develops mostly as a two-hander between [James] Caan
and [Kathy] Bates. They make an intriguing team. Caan, who has been
hyper in some of his recent performances, is controlled and even passive
here, the disbelieving captive of a madwoman. Bates, who has the film's
key role, is uncanny in her ability to switch, in an instant, from sweet
solicitude to savage scorn. Some of the things Stephen King invents for
her to do to the writer are so shocking that they could be a trap for an
actor--an invitation to overact. But she somehow remains convincing inside
her character's madness. .... It is a good story, a natural, and it grabs
us. .... The result is good craftsmanship, and a movie that works."